Know: ‘timing is everything.’

people barely know that he exists.”
40
The best leaders want to surround themselves with talented
managers. They revel in finding managers who are smarter than they
are. CEO Tom Siebel wants the executives in his organization to be
significantly smarter than he is in their particular areas. The chief fi-
nancial officer (CFO) should be better at managing finances than the
Leadership
95

---

CEO, and the head of marketing should be better at marketing than
the CEO. The CEO’s main task is to build a team of experts who are
aligned with each other and the primary goals of the company.
And good leaders don’t want yes-men. Be ready to fire those
who agree with you. Good leaders want the honest views of their col-
leagues. They encourage constructive debates and out-of-the-box
thinking. They invite big-picture ideas. They tolerate honest mis-
takes. And when they make the final decision, they inspire their peo-
ple to do their best.
And the best leaders don’t spend too much time poring over
numbers. They get out and meet the troops. And they devote a lot of
time to major customers. Jack Welch of GE spent 100 days a year
talking with major customers. So did Lou Gerstner of IBM.
At the same time, the job of a leader is daunting. It isn’t all
about playing golf with other business leaders. One CEO said, “I am